How to Make a Cobra Balloon

Balloon animals are an exciting addition to any children's party or occasion, and a balloon cobra will provide kids with hours of entertainment long after the excitement of watching it emerge like magic from a balloon. Balloon cobras are a quick and easy animal to make and are a good starting project for beginning balloon modelers.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Inflate the balloon almost to full length, leaving just a small amount of space in the tip. The cobra contains just a few twists, so you don't need to leave much room for the air to be displaced.

2. Twist off a small section about 2-inches long at the base of the balloon. This section will become the cobra's face.

3. Grasp the next 5 to 6 inches of the balloon and form a small loop above the base section. Make sure that this loop has a hole large enough to accommodate the smaller section of balloon.

4. Take the base section and push it through the loop above it to form the cobra's head with a halo around the face.

5. Take the tip of the balloon and roll it up tightly all the way to the head. Push the roll tightly together to make sure that the shape holds.

6. Release the roll and allow the balloon to relax into an open coil. Bend the balloon upward about a foot below the head to create a snake shape with the head raised from the body coils.

7. Continue to shape the cobra body as desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't worry about pushing the balloon too hard. Modeling balloons are tough and resist popping except under very heavy force.